Sonny Bill Williams shocks league world
July 27, 2008
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Canterbury player Sonny Bill Williams has reportedly walked out in year one of a five year contract to pursue a potential $3million 2 year deal to play in French rugby union.
He headed overseas without even letting his teammates know his was leaving the club. Canterbury players, management and fans are not impressed with the actions of Williams.
The NRL is also against the move and say that if Williams plays rugby he will be banned for life from playing in the Australian league competition.
On top of the threat to ban Williams from the NRL they are hoping the the rugby union authorities won’t register the renegade bulldog. If this happens he could see himself out of the game altogether.
It will be interesting to see how this pans out.
Manly run away from Titans
July 5, 2008
The Manly Sea Eagles flew north to take on the Gold Coast Titans at Skilled Park. The Titans were without some key players including Scott Prince who broke his arm in game 3 of the State of Origin and Luke Bailey.
In the first half both teams put on an entertaining match with good ball movement and solid defence. The Gold Coast were first to score when a good pass saw Anthony Laffranchi given enough space to make it to the try line in the 9th minute.
The Sea Eagles hit back in the 14th minute when Steven Bell crossed in the 14th minute. Another try followed to Steve Menzies who just keeps on showing age does not slow him down. The half time score was 12-6 to the Sea Eagles.
A penalty and a converted try saw the home team take a 14-12 lead by the 53rd minute. At this stage of the match you would have given it to either team.
A mistake by the Gold Coast when they should have cleaned up a Manly kick was what ultmately seemed to turn the match. Manly took advantage by scoring a try through Jamie Lyons in the 63rd minute and then the floodgates opened.
Three more tries followed as David Williams went over and a Brett Stewart double saw the score blowout to 34-14. On face value you would think Manly had the match under control howevr it was there for the Gold Coast to win with around 12 minutes left.
The win sees Manly sitting at the top of the NRL ladder while the Gold Coast continues a slide down to 7th at the moment. The will need to work hard to turn around their recent poor form where they are 1-4 from the last five matches.
Queensland take origin series despite losing Prince
July 2, 2008
In game two of the origin series Scott Prince came into the Queensland side and made a huge difference. Just look at the 30-0 scoreline.
In the deciding game three played on NSW home turf at ANZ stadium the QLD team got off to a good start when Israel Folau was on hand to take advantage of a Athony Quinn error. The NSW winger jumped to field a bomb, his let it bounce off his shoulder and Folau gleefully accepted the rebound and touched down for a try.
NSW hit back after a QLD error gave them the ball in good field position. At the end of the set of tackles Matt Cooper ended a move down the left side by stretching out to plant the ball down as he was tackled. The conversion by Craig Fitzgibbon gave NSW a 6-4 advantage.
The next thing I noticed in the match was Scott Prince running up the tunnel with what turned out to be a broken arm. He did this as he went it in for a tackle and whacked it against the elbow of Braith Anasta.
The loss of the QLD playmaker looked to have thrown his team into disarray as they had trained all week with him running the show. Now they looked lost.
QLD did manage to score again. It was Folau again. This time he did all the work. He lept high to take in a bomb. It was a spectacular grab that would have done the Swans proud. As he came down he had the skill to plant the ball for the four pointer. The missed conversion kept the scoreline tight.
Some penalties goals to NSW and one to QLD saw the teams go into the sheds at 10 all.
In the second half the NSW team looked most likely to win the match. The moved the ball around better than QLD however they maybe did not do enough. QLD without Prince seemed to struggle for direction and they could not add to the halftime score until some Johnathan Thurston brilliance busted the game wide open.
Thurston ran onto the ball out wide and recognized that a forward was sitting out wide. He dummied and took him on. Mitchell Pearce slid in defence to take the outside man and this let Thurston make the bust. As he looked for support Billy Slater flashed up along side to take the pass and sprint over untouched. The conversion took the score to 16-10.
After the conversion there was 11 minutes left for QLD to hold out. Calling on their strong desire to win the QLD team defended with passion and kept the Blues from crossing their line. Steven Price showed the commitment that it takes to play and win at this level. He charged down a Mitchell Pearce kick to diffuse a dangerous situation.
It was plays like that from QLD which helped them take the match and along with it their third straight series win. It was just the second time they had won at the Olympic stadium.
NSW will have to wonder what they can do to score more points. In game two and three they could only manage 10 points and this included just one try.
In the end it was a sad send off for Danny Buderus who is the outgoing NSW skipper. He is headed overseas next year. The Queensland fans won’t care too much about that as they celebrate another fine series win for the Maroons.
What did you think of game three? Have your say below.
NRL wrap round 16
July 1, 2008
Cronulla has wrapped up round 16 with a win in chilly Canberra. As the rain and wind made playing conditions miserable the Sharks were able to come back from 12-0 down to run away with a 36-24 win.
The teams hardest hit by State of Origin absentees had mixed results. Melbourne who were without nine players pushed Parramatta. In the end they could not close the gap and the Eels snuck away with a 24-22 win. The Roosters without six stars defeated Canterbury in an entertaining match 24-14. Brisbane played the Penrith Panthers. Both teams were without nine regular first graders. In the end the teams could not be separated with the score 12-12 after extra time.
The Rabbitohs pulled off the most amazing win. They completed a huge comeback after falling behind 28-4 in the 49th minute. Souths ended up winning the match 29-28 to complete the second biggest comeback in NRL history. It was actually the Cowboys who pulled off the biggest comeback. In 1998 they went from being down 26-0 to win 36-28 against Penrith.
The St George Illawarra Dragons continued their impressive form of late with a six consecutive win after ending the unbeaten home record of the Gold Coast Titans. The Dragons won a close match 26-22.
In a round of close scorelines the most one sided match was the one between Manly and Newcastle. The Sea Eagles winning 28-12.
The last match to mention was the matchup between Wests Tigers and the Warriors. The New Zealand team score a rare away win running out winners 28-26.
If the quality of play is ever lacking over recent rounds you cannot complain about the excitement factor as so many games are being decided by four points or less.
The highlight this week is the State of Origin match on Wednesday July 2. New South Wales will be going all out to avoid their third consecutive series loss.
St George end Gold Coast perfect home record
June 28, 2008
The St George Illawarra Dragons have continued with their recent good form and have done what no other NRL team has done in season 2008. They have defeated the Titans on home turf.
In a close match the Dragons scored a try in the 68th minute to take the match.
The Titans had Ben Jeffery (4th minute), Brett Delaney (34m), Luke O’Dwyer (47m) and Mat Rogers (60m) score tries. Rogers converted two tries.
The Dragons also scored four tries however the accurate goal kicking from Jamie Soward gave St George the advantage. Ben Hornby (30th minute), Brett Morris (38m), Chase Stanley (51m) and Michael Lett (68m) were the try scores.
The win sees the Dragons in fifth spot on the NRL ladder four points from top spot.
Another Friday night thriller in NRL
June 28, 2008
There have been plenty of tight matches in the NRL over recent times. On friday night in the match between Brisbane and Penrith we got more of the same. Well almost.
Instead of the match being decided at the last minute, or in golden point extra time both teams were locked on 12 a piece after 90 minutes. That’s right, teams level after 80 minutes and still level after an additional 5 minutes each way extra time for the first draw of the season.
Both teams came into the match with understrength teams. Brisbane had four players sitting out on State of Origin duty and also a few more out injured. Most notably Darren Lockyer. The Penrith team were without Petero Civoniceva who lines up for Queensland in the State of Origin decider and many other top players who were out injured. When you add them all up each team was without nine regular first graders.
The match did not see many points as it was 6-6 at halftime and then 12-12 at fulltime. Luke Jennings got the first try of the match in the 24th minute. The Broncos scored the next two with Dave Taylor crossing in the 33rd minute and Corey Parker in the 48th minute.
With time winding down Michael Jennings scored a good try for the Panthers in the 73rd minute. 18 year old Lachlan Coote who was making his debut at fullback had the chance to win the match with the conversion. He also had several more opportunities to be the hero in his first ever first grade match in the NRL. A penalty shot just missed after two minutes of extra time and Coote also missed a well struck long range field goal attempt. As time wound down he missed a second field goal however that one was a dud shot.
Brisbane had a chance to steal the match at the end of regular time however Greg Eastwood’s field goal attempt was charged down.
In the end both teams walked away with a point. A good result considering.
In the other match on Friday night the Roosters pulled off a good win without 6 players who were on State of Origin duty. After falling behind 10-0 the Roosters worked their way back into the match before running out 24-14 winners.
One players misfortune is another players opportunity.
Rugby League State of Origin game 3 teams announced
June 25, 2008
Below are the players selected to represent NSW and QLD in the decider
of the 2008 State of Origin Series. The match will be played at ANZ
Stadium, Sydney, on Wednesday, July 2.
Joel Monaghan and Mitchell Pearce will be making their State of Origin
debut. Pearce is the son of former Blues great Wayne Pearce. Several
changes were forced on the Blues due to injury. Mark Gasnier, Greg Bird
and Peter Wallace were unavailable.
New South Wales Blues
| Fullback | Brett Stewart (Sea Eagles) |
| Wing | Jarryd Hayne (Eels) |
| Centre | Joel Monaghan (Raiders) |
| Centre | Matt Cooper (Dragons) |
| Wing | Anthony Quinn (Storm) |
| Five-eighth | Braith Anasta (Roosters) |
| Halfback | Mitchell Pearce (Roosters) |
| Front Row | Willie Mason (Roosters) |
| Hooker | Danny Buderus (C) (Knights) |
| Front Row | Brett White (Storm) |
| Second Row | Craig Fitzgibbon (Roosters) |
| Second Row | Ryan Hoffman (Storm) |
| Lock | Paul Gallen (Sharks) |
| Interchange | |
| Kurt Gidley (Knights) | |
| Ben Cross (Knights) | |
| Anthony Laffranchi (Titans) | |
| Anthony Tupou (Roosters) |
Queensland Maroons
| Fullback | Karmichael Hunt (Broncos) |
| Wing | Darius Boyd (Broncos) |
| Centre | Greg Inglis (Storm) |
| Centre | Brent Tate (Warriors) |
| Wing | Israel Folau (Storm) |
| Five-eighth | Johnathan Thurston (Cowboys) |
| Halfback | Scott Prince (Titans) |
| Front Row | Steven Price (Warriors) |
| Hooker | Cameron Smith (C) (Storm) |
| Front Row | Petero Civoniceva (Panthers) |
| Second Row | Michael Crocker (Storm) |
| Second Row | Ashley Harrison (Titans) |
| Lock | Dallas Johnson (Storm) |
| Interchange | |
| Billy Slater (Storm) | |
| Ben Hannant (Broncos) | |
| Nate Myles (Roosters) | |
| Sam Thaiday (Broncos) |
Who is your pick to win game three? Leave your comments below.
Titans miserable away record continues as Rabbitohs take win
June 23, 2008
Most of the teams with an away record as bad as the Gold Coast Titans are found down at the bottom of the NRL ladder. Thanks to an impressive 7-0 home record the NRL new boys are going ok.
Tonight the misery continued for the Gold Coast as they took on South Sydney at the ANZ Stadium. After looking to have clinched the match with a field goal in the 72nd minute the Gold Coast surrended the lead with a penalty goal to Issac Luke in the 78th minute.
The match was a good contest throughout with the score 12-10 at the halftime break. Midway through the second half the Titans were ahead 22-16 only to see the scores leveled. Scott Prince kicked the field goal to put the Titans up by one before a penalty was awarded against Jordan Atkins for holding down Beau Champion.
The Rabbitohs have now won back to back matches for the first time this season.
In other games on Sunday there were also thrilling finishes. The Roosters snuck home against Newcastle 16-14 and Cronulla defeated Parramatta with a last minute penalty goal which broke a 14 all deadlock. Manly defeated the Warriors 20-14.
Looking at the ladder the Sea Eagles, Storm, Roosters and Sharks lead the way with 22 points. The Titans are fifth with 20 followed by the Dragons and Broncos on 18. The Knights hold down eighth place on the ladder with 16. Four other teams are also on 16 points however the Knights have the better for and against record.
Raiders score try of the year?
June 21, 2008
The Canberra Raiders have been struggling to win away from home in 2008. Tonight they blasted a toothless Canterbury Bulldogs team off the park to win for the second time away from Canberra. In what was one of the worse losses in their history the Bulldogs lost 18-58.
The Raiders ran in a try from 95m away from their try line. It came after a Canterbury grubber by Joe Williams was carried back down field in a spectacular movement where Best combined with Campese before Best got the ball back to go over.
The Bulldogs were woeful and missed 52 tackles for the night. This allowed the Raiders to go in for 11 tries to three. Colin Best managed a career best four tries and Joe Picker and David Milne scored doubles.
After the Raiders had gone out to an early 16-0 lead the Bulldogs did manage to turn things around and after 32 minutes it was 20-18 to the Raiders. From here it was as if the Bulldogs sent out the reserve grade team as the Raiders piled on the points to end the match 40 points ahead of their opponents.
Can the Canterbury Bulldogs regroup from here or will they crash out of contention for a finals spot as the weeks go by?
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Two nailbiters in NRL on Friday night
June 21, 2008
Two matches were played in the National Rugby League on Friday night. Both matches were decided by a field goal.
Brisbane Broncos took on the Wests Tigers at home in Brisbane. After a tight first half the Tigers scored out wide just before the halftime break to lead the match 12-8.
The Broncos hit back in the second half with tries in the 49th minute to Denan Kemp and to Nick Kenny in the 52nd minute. The Tigers got the match back on level terms after a converted Liam Fulton try in the 65th minute. The score was now 18-18.
A Karmichael Hunt field goal in the 73 minute broke the deadlock. There was some controversy over the fact that a Broncos player shielded Hunt as he lined up for the field goal.
Coach Wayne Bennett said after the match that his team won ugly. Without some star players the Broncos could not play their usual entertaining brand of league and had to work hard for the victory.
In the other match in Sydney the St George Illawarra Dragons played Penrith Panthers. The Penrith team were fielding some new players due to the injury troubles they are experiencing. The enthusiasm of the debutants seemed to do the trick for the Panthers as the built a 12-0 lead.
Rhys Wesser had opened the scoring for the Panthers in the 8th minute and Luke Lewis strolled over on the 37 minute mark to establish the lead. In further bad news for Penrith, Wesser left the field injured after suffering a stomach strain.
In the second half it was the Dragons who did all the scoring. First Ben Creagh went over after 52 minutes and then in a twinkling of an eye Josh Morris went over after a Jamie Soward chip kick opened up the Panthers.
Jamie Soward was the hero for St George as he slotted over a field goal with 8 minutes left in the match. Penrith were not able to hit back.
St George have now strung together five wins. This is a feat they have not achieved since 2006. Penrith battled bravely for most of the match however their injury toll just has to have some impact and in the end they could not get past St George.
